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F. MOI-IARTER; COMBINED HEAD REST, CHIN SUPPORT, AND EYE CLOSER FOR UORPSES.

No. 402,095. K PatentedApr. 23, 1889.

.K' a k i K k A I M v H "H I \D F g I MA A-55A-5; D fl/EA/U )Yowvv UNZTTED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

FRANK MOIIARTER, OF NANTICOKE, PENNSYLVANIA, ASSIGNOR OF FOUR- FIFTHS TO. FRANK P. CROTZER, JOHN J. DITTY, GEORGE IV. GRUVER, AND SCHWARTZ, ALL OF SAME PLACE.

EEQOMBINED HEAD-REST, CHIN-SUPPORT, AND EYE-CLOSER FOR CORPSES.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 402,095, dated April 23, 1889. Application filed August 21 1838, Serial No. 283,321. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern:

Be it'known. that I, FRANK MOHARTER, a citizen of the United States, residing at Nanticoke, in the county of Luzerue and State of Pennsylvania, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Combined Head-Rest, Chin-Support, and Eye-Closer; and I do declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description of the invention, such as will enable others skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use the same, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, and to the letters and figures of reference marked thereon,which form a part of this specification. My invention relates to undertakers appliances; and its object is to hold the head of a cadaver while the same is laid out on the cooling-board, though it may also be used for the same purpose in a coflin, if desired.

The invention consists in certain devices and combinations of them, as hereinafter set forth, and particularly pointed out in the claims.

In the drawings, Figure 1 is a perspective 2 5 view of my invention, and Fig. 2 shows the manner of using it.

The device usually employed for supporting the head of a cadaver consists of a shank, A, having at its upper end an arm, A, project- 0 ing at right angles, and carrying at its outer end a pair of upwardly-curved horns,B', to receive and hold the head of the corpse. head-rest can be adjusted to dilferent heights above the cooling-board O by means of a sock- 3 5 et, D, through which the shank A slides, and

in which it is held by a set-screw, d.

I shall show and describe my improvements as applied to a head-rest of this kind, although any suitable device for supporting the head 40 of the corpse may be used in connection with my invention.

To the arm A, near the horns B, I fasten rigidly a cross-bar, E. Clamped to each end of the cross-bar is a sliding L-shaped side bar,

F.- A simple way torender the side bars adjustable is to form a slot, f, in the horizontal' portion of each, through which passes a thumbscrew, G, inserted through a suitable hole in the cross-bar E, and provided with a nut, g, to permit the side bar to be clamped at any point The A along the cross-bar. The thumb-screw may,

if desired, be tapped into the cross-bar, the slotted portion of the side bar being arranged below the cross-bar, so as to be held by the head of the thumb-screw. Other ways of ren- 5 5 dering the side bars adjustable may be adopted Without departing from the spirit of my invention. To the upright portion of the side bars are adjustably secured the ends of a chinsupport, H, consisting of a strip of flexible 6o material, such as leather, rubber, thin metal,

or the 'like. One way of making the chinsupport adjustable is to provide the ends of it with longitudinal slots h, through which pass thumb-screws I, inserted through holes in the side bars, F, and provided with nuts '1'. These thumb-screws and nuts also clamp to the side bars the eye-closers, by which term I mean suitable devices for holding closed the eyelids of the cadaver. The devices I prefer 7o consist of slotted uprights K, having inwardlyprojecting arms K. The thumb-screws pass through the slots it, which allow the eye-closers to be adjusted to different heights. In the ends of the arms K are holes k, for a purpose hereinafter explained.

The operation of my device is as follows: The head of the cadaver is placed upon the rest 13, and the thumb-screws Gbeing loosened the side bars, F, are slid in until the ends of the eye-closers K come over theeyes of the corpse. The screws G are then tightened up to clamp the side bars in their positions. The thumb-screws I are then loosened and the eyeclosers are slid down until they rest upon the eyelids of the corpse with sufficient pressure to hold them closed. The chin-support II is then adjusted to hold up the jaw of the corpse and keep the mouth closed. The thumbscrews I are then tightened, clamping the chin-support and the eye-closers in place and holding the head of the corpse firmly.

In case it should be necessary to apply a preservative preparation to the eyes, it can be administered through the holes 70' without 5 removing the eye-closers.

Having thus described my invention, whatl claim, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, 1s-

1. The combination, with a supporting- 10c frame, of a head-rest, a chin-support, and an eye-closer, the latter consisting of a bar adapted to rest over the eye of a cadaver, substantialiy as described.

2. The combination, with a supportingframe, of a head-rest and bars adapted to rest over the eyes of a cadaver, substantially as described.

3. The combination, with a supportingframe, of adjustable bars adapted to rest over the eyes of a cadaver, substantially as described.

4. The combination, with a head-rest, of a cross-bar, side bars adjustably fastened to said cross-bar, and achin-support attached to said side bars, substantially as set forth. 

